The Office Pool
by Jess
Summary: Who bets on the office pool?


Title: The Office Pool Author: Jess Confessore E-mail: maddict@jcn1.com Spoilers: Tooms Keywords: MSR Disclaimer: They're not mine, but I will accept them as a gift. =)~ Feedback: Please? Archive: Sure. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Office Pool By Jess Confessore ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Hoover Building Wednesday, September 08, 1999 7:59am 

He watched them silently from his corner of the crowded elevator. 

If it wasn't the innuendoes, it was the bickering. If it wasn't the lingering touches, it was the invasion of space. This morning's show was just like any other expect today they'd thrown in a few stolen glances drenched with longing for good measure. 

Their admirer thought as he shook his head. 

The elevator doors opened on the fifth floor and he began to make his way from his hiding spot on the back corner. 

"A.D. Skinner!" The admirer heard from behind him. 

He thought. 

"Yes, Agent Mulder?" Skinner said impatiently as he turned to face the agent. 

"Uh, Agent Scully and I were just coming up to talk to you. We've found this new file..." 

"You found the file, Mulder." Scully said. 

"Right, and well, we need to get going right away but we've got that meeting with you at tomorrow at 8..." Mulder said in a rush. 

"And?" Skinner asked growing even more impatient. 

"And well, we were wondering if..." Mulder started. 

"You were wondering, Mulder. I already know what he's gonna say." Scully said. 

"Yeah, I was wondering if..." 

"Well, this does sound urgent, Agents." Skinner said stepping away from the elevator door sensor. "And I'll be holding my breath until I see you tomorrow at 8." He waved as the doors slid shut on Mulder's gaping maw. 

Skinner smiled to himself as he walked to his office. 

Chuckling at the thought, he strode into his outer office, only to find Agent Lingstrom from Computer Crimes chatting with Kimberly. 

"Agent Lingstrom? May I help you with something?" Skinner asked apprehensively. 

"Oh, no, Sir. He was just adding a bet to the Mulder and Scully pool." Kimberly smiled. 

"Oh, yes." He sighed in relief. "That silly thing. What's the total up to these days?" 

"Hang on a sec, Sir. Ok, just sign here and you're all set." Kimberly said as she passed Lingstrom the office pool log sheet. She then ruffled through some papers. "It looks like the total is...$124,673." 

"Excuse me? Did you just say the total is over one hundred and twenty-four THOUSAND dollars?" 

"Well, this has been adding up for 7 years, Sir." Kimberly said accepting the clipboard back from Lingstrom. "Thanks, Carl." 

"I'm betting it happens while they're on their next case." Lingstrom offered. "I hear Spooky's taking the missus to Hawaii to research some freaky volcano. There's no way they can resist in paradise." 

"Actually, I'm surprised you're even betting." Skinner replied. "I thought you were one of the masses nursing a crush on Agent Scully." 

"That may be true, Sir, but I can't pass on the chance to win enough money to dig myself outta debt and still be able to buy a boat if I want." 

"Carl, I've seen your apartment. What debt could you have?" Kimberly said with a smirk. 

"I have debt." Lingstrom said, blushing. "My cat just had hip surgery. It was very expensive." 

Kimberly tried desperately to stifle a laugh while Lingstrom turned several more shades of red. 

"I'm sorry to hear that, Carl. I know how hard that can be." Skinner said pensively before turning to his secretary. "Kimberly, could you go down to accounting and get copies of Mulder and Scully's latest expense reports? I need them for our meeting tomorrow." 

"Of course, sir. I'll be right back." She said as she walked out the door. Lingstrom smiled and turned to leave as well, when A.D. Skinner stopped him with a strong hand on his arm. 

"Carl, no one would be happier than me to see those two together. I think I've got an idea how to resolve both our problems. If you'll help me, I'll split that money with you." Skinner said seriously. 

"Well, you know them better than anyone. Whatever idea you may have is better than my lame fantasy." Lingstrom said. 

"Excellent! Follow me into my office. We've got some planning to do." 

X~X~X~X~X~X 

Walter Skinner's Office Thursday, September 09, 1999 8:45am 

"But Sir, those expenses are legitimate." Fox Mulder whined. 

"Seven hundred dollars for a two night stay at Josie's Off The Turnpike? Is this a five star hotel that I'm not aware of?" Skinner inquired sarcastically. 

"Sir, everything we needed for the investigation was charged to the motel because they thought it would be easier." Dana Scully said, coming to her partner's defense. 

"Did you at least solve this one, Agents?" Skinner sighed. 

"Well, yes and no." Mulder started. "I determined that what killed the townsfolk was a deadly vapor. But as for what sinister mind created and released it, that remains a mystery." 

"It was swamp gas, sir." Scully added with impatience. 

"It was not!" Mulder replied indignantly. 

"Sir, both phosphine and methane were found in the lungs of the two victims, who lived in a swampy area. There is no evidence to suggest otherwise." Scully stated simply, ignoring her partner. 

"Do you have evidence to prove it wasn't, Agent Mulder?" Skinner asked. 

"No." Mulder said pouting a little. 

"Well, then if you have nothing further, you may go. As always, I look forward to hearing the results of your next case. It sounds quite fascinating. Good day, Agents." 

They both rose from their chairs and walked through the back door silently. Skinner crept after them, peering through a crack in the door. What he saw was typical of his favorite agents. They were in the throws of one of their famous fights, oblivious to those around them and their own personal space. He turned and nodded to Lingstrom, who was waiting just around the corner. 

X~X~X~X~X~X 

"Why must you do that?!" Mulder yelled at his petite partner. 

"Do what, Mulder?" Scully asked innocently. 

"Disagree with everything I say. Just once, I'd like a meeting with Skinner where we both agree." 

"I hope you get your wish, Mulder, but until that day, I'm not going to agree with something I don't believe in just because you think it's my job to make you look less crazy. I'm sorry." 

"I thought that was your job; to scientifically prove what I find. Therefore, turning my fiction into fact." 

"Which I did on this case, proving that it was swamp gas! Why must the outcome be something ominous in order for you to be satisfied? And people are going to think what they want to think, Mulder, whether I believe it or not." "Is there anything that you do believe in, Scully? Tell me, please! Cause I'm just dying to know!" He bellowed as he loomed over her tiny frame, his intense eyes locked on hers. 

And then he was falling. Before he even knew what hit him, literally hit him, he found himself toppling toward Scully. In a swift move, she caught him before he sent both of them to the floor. The only problem was the way that she had caught him. Somehow she had with not only her arms but her lips. 

They stood there in the hallway, lips smashed against each other, eyes wide for what seemed like forever. Then he was kissing her. More amazingly, she was kissing him back. It was a sweet kiss, long, deep and passionate as seven years of sexual tension erupted with the meeting of their lips. The arms she had instinctively placed against him to shield herself from his weight, were now travelling up his chest and shoulders to curl around his neck, while his wrapped around her tiny waist and pulled her closer to him, practically mashing her against his lean body. Before long, the need for air won out and they separated an inch. 

"Umm...wow." He said, before engaging her lips in another long embrace. 

When the need to oxygenate separated them for the second time, he stood before her staring into her eyes with more love, desire, or passion than she had ever witnessed before. 

"You." She said. 

"What?" he asked, pushing one errand strand of titian hair from her face. 

"You asked me what I believe in. I may not believe in your theories, but I believe in you as a person, as my best friend, and as my soul mate." She said, her azure eyes brimming with emotion. "I love you." Smiling wider than either of them had ever thought possible, he rested his forehead against hers. 

"Do you know how long I've waited to hear that?" He whispered. 

"If you say since the motel in Bellefleur, it'll just confirm that we're as pathetic as I think were are." 

"Should we be investigating your psychic ability?" 

She smiled broad at his joke, grabbed his hand, turned toward the elevators and stopped. Surrounding them almost completely and blocking the elevator bank was a rather large crowd of agents, supervisors and secretaries who suddenly erupted into applause. 

X~X~X~X~X~X 

Agent Lingstrom's assignment was a simple one. From his spot around the corner from A.D. Skinner's office he watched as Mulder and Scully entered the hallway. Moments later, Skinner gave him a nod and the plan was set into motion. He strode purposefully from his hiding place and straight towards his unmissable target. 

It took only thirty seconds and five strides to give them the nudge they needed. Literally. It was Skinner's constant observations of the duo that lead them to believe that a simple push would be all that it would take to get things started. And they were right. 

As watched his handiwork with half the Hoover, he couldn't help but envision himself spending all that hard earned money. Skinner came up to him and shook his hand. 

"You do good work, Carl." The superior agent said. 

"You've got great instincts, sir. Who else would have know that a plan like this would work?" 

In the midst of their gloating session, Kimberly walked over to them with her poll clipboard in hand. 

"Can you guys believe it?" She said with amazement. 

"Yeah, I know! We didn't know if it would work, but we had to take a chance, ya know?" Lingstrom said in a rush. 

"You did this? How? Why?" Kimberly asked. 

"I used my observations of the agents to formulate a plan which Lingstrom here carried out." Skinner explained. 

"Yeah, A.D. Skinner noticed how they always stand in each other's personal space and theorized that if someone bumped into them they would literally fall into a kiss and it worked! I didn't even bump into him that hard." Lingstrom finished. 

"But why would you do that?" Kimberly asked again. "To win the money and end this charade." Lingstrom answered. 

"But you two didn't bet that this would happen. The only bet I have on record from you is your Hawaii bet. So actually, you owe me $300 dollars." 

The pair stared at her with gaping mouths just as Mulder and Scully realized that they had an audience. 

"Excuse me, gentlemen, I have to go congratulate the winner." Kimberly said. 

"Wait...who...who did win?" Skinner stammered. 

"Agent Scully." She said with a smile as she weaved through the crowd. 

X~X~X~X~X~X 

Mulder and Scully stood in a sea of barely recognizable faces. They were bewildered not only by the discovery of love in each other, but the fact that so many that they thought were against them, were secretly rooting for them. Then, from nowhere a friendly face emerged. They watched as Kimberly broke free from the crowd and started toward them with a broad smile on her face. 

"Agents, let me be the first to congratulate you!" Kimberly beamed. 

"Kimberly, what is going on here?" Scully whispered. 

"You remember the office pool?" Kimberly asked. 

"Yeah, I've heard rumors about there being one based on us, but..." Mulder said. 

"As Scully can tell you, not only is there one, but she actually placed a bet once." 

Mulder looked down at his rapidly blushing partner with shock and awe. 

"You did? When? I don't...did you really do that?" He stammered. 

"It was...after the Tooms case. The stakeout. 'If there's iced tea in that bag, it could be love.'?" She explains. "Anyway...it was right around the time that the pool started and I was dropping off a report...so I bet a dollar that we would be together by..." 

"September 9, 1999 at 9am." Kimberly read from her clipboard. 

"Oh my god!" Scully gasped throwing her hand over her mouth. 

"You picked today? Why?" Mulder asked, dazed. 

"I didn't want to pick something stupid like on a case...But I wanted it to be worthy of our investigations. And many think that today is the actual date of the Armageddon..." She explained turning to Kimberly. "I didn't even realize...is it?...What time is it?" 

"9:09." Kimberly replied. "You just won $124,673. But this wasn't fate. A.D. Skinner and Agent Lingstrom tried to win with a little plan of their own. The only problem is that they forgot to register their bet." 

Stunned and speechless, Scully turned to her partner whose face mirrored her shock. He reached down and hugged her close and tight. 

"I love you." He whispered into her ear. "And I loved you then and I love you even more now. And I know that because I die a little every minute I'm away from you." 

He kissed the patch of skin behind her ear and then her lips. 

"Agents, the winners of the office pool!" Kimberly announced to the crowd. 

They turned and smiled to the crowd as they made their way towards the elevators, shaking hands and receiving pats on the back. Just in front of the elevator bank stood the last obstacle in an already twilight zone-like experience. An obstruction manifested into the wall of flesh and bone that is A.D. Skinner. They approached him apprehensively, trying to gage his mood. Then he did the unexpected. He smiled. 

"Congratulations, Agents. It's about time." He said with a sparkle in his eyes. 

Skinner outstretched a muscular arm and shook Mulder's with exuberant force. Scully tried to get away with the same, but before she knew it, her boss had pulled her into a hug. 

"Thank you for the push, sir." Scully said against his chest. "Lord knows how long we could have lived a charade." 

"I'm sorry we had to take such drastic measures...but you two were driving me crazy." Skinner said exasperated. "And someday, you better not think that I owe a wedding present, because I think I've already come through in that department." 

"Sir...is there any way that we can do to thank you? Kimberly said you did this for the money. Is there anything you need?" Mulder asked. 

"Seeing you two happy for once is all I wanted, but as I understand it...Agent Lingstrom has acquired quite a debt that he might need some help with." Skinner answered smiling down at the bewildered pair. 

The End. 


End file.
